Lane Kiffin not a fan of Saturday-to-Thursday turnaround on the road — which FAU faces this week

Last time Florida Atlantic played on the road, the Owls, after dropping their first four games on the road this season, were able to put together their most complete performance and finally get a win away from FAU Stadium.

This Thursday night at North Texas, though, brings a different scenario than what FAU faced against rival FIU in Miami on Nov. 3.

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“This is set up as a very difficult task,” Owls coach Lane Kiffin said in a Sunday conference call with reporters. “This is obviously a difficult game against a good team. We’re there 8:30 p.m. our time on a Thursday night on the road, playing in some really cold weather, which is different from the FIU game.

“We’re supposed to get back here at 6 a.m. Friday on a school day, so I don’t [know] how this is in the best interest of the student-athlete at all, but it is what it is.”

If there’s such a thing as a Thursday night road game fan club, Kiffin wouldn’t exactly be the president of it.

“We want no part of a Thursday night road game, but we don’t have a choice,” he said. “They put it out. The conference gets to choose how they want to put them, and you don’t have any say in that.

“That’s why you see major teams don’t go play Thursday games anymore, especially on the road.”

Kiffin agreed when asked if Thursday road games should only be scheduled following a team’s bye week. FAU, of course, just played Saturday night, a 34-15 win over Western Kentucky to bring the team back to .500 overall and in Conference USA (5-5, 3-3).

After watching film on Sunday, Monday is basically a Tuesday and Wednesday practice combined. Kiffin said postgame Saturday that the team will cover third-down, red-zone, short-yardage and goal-line situations. That then gets the Owls back on schedule for a Tuesday walkthrough as if it were a Thursday on a normal week before they travel.

North Texas is coming off a surprising loss at Old Dominion that dropped the Mean Green to 7-3 and 3-3 in conference. They lost, 34-31, after leading, 28-0.

“It works both ways. Sometimes you lose and it motivates you and so you come back and play really good afterward,” Kiffin said. “Sometimes there’s a letdown because you’re disappointed.”

Kiffin delved into the process of selecting a starting quarterback the past week. Chris Robison, who said he didn’t know he was starting until it was time to run out onto the field with the first-team offense, started over De’Andre Johnson before Kiffin went to Johnson and then back to Robison — all before halftime.

“We tell them to always be ready to play, and everyone, regardless of position, should prepare like the starter,” Kiffin said. “When we were going through different options, we felt the best option was to repeat the week before, which worked — was Chris starting and De’Andre coming off the bench and playing well. So we went with the same format.”

Asked about the improved play of the defense in recent weeks, Kiffin pointed to the schedule as a reason why the Owls have been able to improve statistically on that side of the ball. He noted the difficulties early of playing prolific non-conference opponents like Oklahoma and UCF and also facing a triple option-based offense in Air Force.

Kiffin said that with FAU one win shy of bowl eligibility he doesn’t emphasize getting it this week over next week — or even bringing up bowl implications to players as a motivational tool.